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Jail for stateless man who hurled racial slurs at hospital nurse

This article is more than 12 months old

A man who went to Sengkang General Hospital (SKH) for double vision treatment hurled racial slurs at a nurse who attended to him.

Periyanayagam Appavoo also pointed his finger at Ms Catherine Lam Wai Chi and demanded to be seen by the same doctor from a previous consultation.

He refused to let an Indian doctor examine him, claiming that the latter was "too fair".

On another occasion, Periyanayagam, who was unemployed, abused a supermarket cashier with vulgar language.

The 52-year-old stateless man was yesterday sentenced to five weeks' jail after he pleaded guilty to two counts of harassment.

He also admitted to one count of using criminal force on Ms Lam's colleague, senior staff nurse Muhammad Faizuan Ahmad Juan.

In the SKH incident on June 23 last year, Periyanayagam became verbally abusive when Ms Lam asked for his reasons for turning up at the hospital.

Security officers and the nurse later took him to an intermediate care zone where he rested on a bed. After rejecting the doctor, he got up and walked towards Mr Faizuan, who was attending to another patient.

He used his right hand to choke Mr Faizuan for about two seconds before the latter pushed his hand away.

Security officers brought Periyanayagam back to his bed and used restraints to hold him down.

Two doctors later attended to Mr Faizuan but found no visible neck injuries on him.

In the supermarket incident on April 23 last year, cashier Kamsuna, who goes by only one name, was on duty at the Rivervale Drive outlet at around 7.20pm when Periyanayagam tried to enter through its exit.

He flew into a rage when she told him to use the entrance and berated her before leaving. Police officers arrived at the scene soon after and managed to track him down.

For using criminal force on another person, an offender can be jailed for up to three months and fined up to $1,500. - THE STRAITS TIMES

COURT & CRIME